title: Free radicals and superoxide dismutase in blood of patients with Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia.
abstract: We measured hydroxyl radical (.OH) levels in blood, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in red blood cells (RBC) relative to both total protein (RBC-SOD/P) and Cu,Zn-SOD protein (RBC-SOD/SOD), SOD activity in plasma (plasma-SOD), and Cu,Zn-SOD protein relative to total RBC protein (Cu,Zn-SOD/P) in 22 patients with probable dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT group, mean age 74.8+/-9.4 years), 16 with probable vascular dementia (VAD group, mean age 76.9+/-6.7 years) and 19 non-demented controls (control group, mean age 73.5+/-6.2 years). Levels of .OH in the DAT and VAD groups were significantly (P<0.01 and P<0.001, respectively) higher, whereas the values of RBC-SOD/P and RBC-SOD/SOD in these two groups (both P<0.001) and Cu,Zn-SOD/P in the DAT group (P<0.001) were significantly lower than the corresponding control values. Members of the VAD group with risk factors for stroke (RF+ group) showed significantly higher .OH levels than members of the VAD group without risk factors (RF- group; P<0.01) and the control group (P<0.001). RBC-SOD/P and RBC-SOD/SOD values in the RF+ group were significantly (both P<0.01) lower than the corresponding control values. There were no significant differences among the VAD, RF+ and control groups with respect to Cu,Zn-SOD/P values, or between the RF- and control groups for any measured parameter. We conclude that oxidative stress plays a role in the brain damage seen in both DAT and VAD, and that the causes of decreased SOD activity in RBC differ between DAT and VAD patients.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Research Institute and Department of Neurology, National Minamiokayama Hospital, Okayama, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ihara
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hayabara
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fujisawa
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kawada
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakashima
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yoshimune
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kawai
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kibata
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kuroda
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000097:blood*; D015140:Dementia, Vascular / Q000097:blood*; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005609:Free Radicals / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000502:physiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D005609:Free Radicals; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase